Dilly Dally Days
by ChoNeun
Summary: Everything is too familiar, and he's done all he has had to do. Now Gaara learns a new skill valuable to any shinobi: sleep.
1. A Proposal for You

**Dilly-Dally Days**

As always, it was a hot, slow day in Suna. Gaara and his team of ANBU were just returning from an urgent meeting in Konoha. The redhead was, at least internally, glad to be back to his familiar office and the equally familiar dry heat of his homeland. The masked group behind him all disappeared, leaving the Kazekage to run on his own as he approached the familiar tower of power.

Everything was so familiar.

Everything was so boring.

He pushed open the doors to his office and crossed the room toward his desk. The doors behind him slowly started to close, but it was a thud against their shared front that made the redhead peer calmly over his shoulder. It was his brother and sister, standing side by side and holding open the doors. Behind them were two ANBU poised and ready to do…well, they weren't quite sure yet, but they were ready. Gaara let out a slight groan as he turned around, his eyes closed now.

What could they possibly want? Were they going to ask about the meeting? It was very simple: Tsunade called him in to make sure that their written and verbal contracts were still as tight as ever. It was a trip that almost seemed unnecessary, but from the almost panicked state that the blonde had ran things earlier that day, Gaara didn't dare to demean her, even in his thoughts.

He noticed that, even as he thought about what he would say in his mind, his siblings hadn't moved. Now he was slightly irritated, but he didn't let it show on his face. He did, however, tap one finger on his left forearm and let out a very ragged "Well?".

"Oh!" Kankuro said, perking up as though he had fallen into a trance. He looked over to Temari, who took a few steps forward.

"Gaara. We've been noticing your behavior lately."

It would have been at this moment that Gaara would have raised an eyebrow at her. "You have?" he asked slowly, almost suspiciously.

The ANBU, who almost relaxed and left them to talk, noticed this tone and stood up straight, immediately. Now they were alert and knew that they were there to simply pull the siblings out of the room if their Kage's tone or demeanor slopped downward further.

"We haven't been watching you or anything. Don't worry," Kankuro's nonchalant tone rang out.

Gaara chanced a glance over to his older brother only to see that he had rested against the door to Gaara's left. After noting that for only a second, Gaara looked back to the blonde before him.

"Of course we haven't," she added to Kankuro's statement as the redhead looked towards Kankuro, "but from what we _have_ noticed, you've been acting differently."

"How so?" Gaara asked, unfurling his arms and walking around his desk to go sit behind it.

"We've noticed that you've been…tired." She chose the word carefully even though it was the only one that fit.

Gaara paused. He stood to the left of his desk with his back facing the others. His right hand was grazing the smooth edge of his desk. Just as it, it remained frozen, fingertips barely touching the wooden surface. Temari continued on after a few seconds of seeing him so suddenly still. What was it that she had said? Moving past this thought, she pressed on.

"We're not saying that you're doing bad at your job or that you're doing too much, but you're not giving yourself a break. You don't have to worry about staying up all the time, doing all of this work…"

"If I don't do it, who will?" Gaara asked, still in his same statuesque position.

"…you do have people here who know how to do even the basic of tasks. It's not up to you to do every single minute thing though," Temari continued, seemingly ignoring his question.

"Temari," the ragged voice said firmly, but the redhead's body relaxed now.

However, it was Temari who tensed up only slightly, but defiantly. Her voice was still wary as she responded with "Yes?"

"If I do not do these things, then tell me…" He slowly walked and sat down in his chair. His eyes were closed as he spoke. When he leaned his head against the back of the chair, he opened his eyes. The fatigue was more evident now "…who will?"

"A-ah." Temari stepped back.

His sudden persona changed right before her. It was like watching him deflate. He wasn't usually so open with his well-being, especially non-verbally, so to see him like this was shocking. Kankuro pushed away from the door and walked to stand beside her. The ANBU had taken their leave at the sight of their Kage's current state.

"Right now, don't worry about those things. Only for now. Temari and I are here for a reason. Regardless of us being your brother and sister, you didn't have to give us these positions."

Gaara gave him something of an ironic look.

"You didn't _have to give_ us anything, and you know that better than I can tell you," Kankuro said more firmly, challenging that look.

After a moment of pondering this, Gaara's face relaxed again. Once again, he seemed weary, but thankfully, his siblings knew that this was wear and tear from work and not from life as it previously was. Kankuro continued.

"Now, it is because we have these positions that we know who is useful and who is not useful when talking about the people who work for and under you." Kankuro gave something of a smirk. "You'd be surprised at how many _useful_ people you have wanting to do more than what they have to do now. The faith that you put in the current hard workers you have don't seem to be enough to keep them going. They're not asking for more money, but they're asking for less tasks accompanying you."

Gaara's urge to give Kankuro another look was growing.

"It's not the ANBU. Don't worry," he said again to the redhead. "They know what their purpose is. I mean the lesser people. The other shinobi who do delivery, who carry your scrolls, things like that." At this point, Kankuro began walking closer toward Gaara's desk. "Now I'll admit, you have some handy workers, but…" He placed his right hand on top of the desk, a few scattered papers and some writing utensils. He placed the back of his left hand on his curved hip while leaning forward. "…you've got to admit that they won't be so handy if they end up as work ragged as you."

Gaara stared at him before looking towards the ceiling. At first, he began to think about the workers that he had employed in the Tower, then he thought about everything that had happened today before narrowing it down to what had just occurred here in his office. He was thinking for a while. He knew because he felt as though he were transcending into an out-of-body state and that he was separating from his conscious body like someone pulling a cotton ball apart between their hands. Somewhere in the midst of thinking and being pulled apart by astral hands, he had closed his eyes. Watching him, Kankuro and Temari had thought he had fallen asleep, which caused them to talk amongst each other and in hushed yet astonished tones.

"What do you propose that I do?" Gaara's gravelly voice came out.

His siblings both looked toward him at the same time, seeing that he was still with his eyes closed and arms resting on the arms of the chair. They waited for a moment before Gaara's eyes opened slowly.

"Well, we propose that you take a break," Temari said with a smirk, mirrored only by Kankuro's.

For the second time today, Gaara felt the deep urge to raise an eyebrow he did not have.

"A break?"

"Come on. Get up," Kankuro said energetically as he and Temari both circled the desk from opposite sides. Gaara moved his eyes to look at both of them in turn before looking straight ahead again. "We'll show you."

They both came to his sides and pulled him up by his arms. The redhead couldn't stop himself from sighing as he was pulled up by his traitorous kin. He knew that he wouldn't enjoy this, but he had no other obligations for the rest of the day.

Unfortunately for him, it wasn't even mid-afternoon yet. It was still quite early in the day.

For him, this meant that this make his day or break his spirit. Either way, he had no choice but to go where his keepers were taking him.


	2. A Crowd Engagement

The trio walked out of the office and took a left towards the spiraling staircase. As they came to a landing and passed a doorway, Gaara would look to his right and look at the workers, seeing what they were doing. He noticed that, on the first two floors they passed by, most of them were waiting for orders while idly fiddling with almost unnoticeable things or absently doing menial tasks. The more floors and doors they passed, the more Gaara thought that this was a trend. If it wasn't all the workers, it was still some who barely had their mind on the task they had decided to take on. Their minds were subdued, waiting to be at the Kazekage's side if he called for them. As they walked down each floor though, Gaara wondered how many of them had noticed he was actually passing by them, so close within their reach? Maybe not a lot of them for if they had, he could bet Kankuro's life on the fact that they would jump up without hesitation and follow him.

The thought, for some reason, troubled him.

However, as they reached the bottom floor, Gaara also realized that the rooms he had passed by looked sparse; even if there were ten people for every room out doing errands, there would have still been ten or twenty more in the rooms. His brow muscles moved together as he contemplated this.

Just where _was_ everybody?

He wondered no more as they exited the building out into the Sunagakure heat. The dry air hit him hard and blew his hair back as sand whipping across his face like a grainy whip. It didn't faze him anymore after so long. What did make him wince was the amount of people standing in front of his building. Where had the come from, and why hadn't he noticed them before?

"Here we are, Gaara," Temari's smug, sing-song voice rang out.

"What is this?" the redhead asked, taking a few steps further until he was standing in front of both Kankuro and Temari.

The group—no, horde—of people reacted at the sound of their Kazekage's voice.

"We want to help you sir!" shouted one man with a wheezing voice.

"We want to make you proud, of all of us!" shouted a woman this time.

"Come on, Kazekage! You can do it! Just trust us!" shouted a kid.

The crowd went into an uproar. As people shouted, Gaara kept looking between each speaker before he looked at everyone as a whole. His body did a three-quarter turn before he faced the direction he was going. He trained his dull gaze on his siblings.

"What is this?" There was no amusement in his voice.

"Just some of your supporters," Temari's smugness responded. Her arms were crossed under her chest.

"Oh yeah, buddy. Better believe we planned this ahead of time." At this point, Gaara's face relaxed into gentle shock. He faced the crowd beside him. "Why do you think we rushed up there in a hurry? It's not just about us, Gaara."

The Kazekage remained quiet, but he could hear footsteps coming closer to him. Soon, he felt a pair of hands rest on each of his shoulders. He looked up to Kankuro on his right.

"We told you: other people worry about you too."

"You all…worry?" Gaara looked to Temari, looking for answers, his eyes lost.

"It's not a sign of weakness, Gaara. Having so many people in this village means that you're doing something _right._ It means that these people are willing to work tooth and nail for anything you want, but they also look after your well-being, not just theirs."

"The Kazekage's the most important figurehead in the village," Kankuro added, looking up to the crowd. "If that person is also dedicated to his people, then he is also the most beloved one."

People in the crowd were smiling or grinning in some cases, looking at Gaara bashfully, giving thumbs-up or still shouting encouraging things. Gaara looked around this crowd and examined each face. Kankuro and Temari's words could only be of truth. After so long, everything just seemed to be true. Kankuro looked down to him.

"Do you see, Gaara? They agree too."

"Yeah! Kazekage!" shouted two people, a man and a woman, at once.

This sent the crowd into a second uproar. At this point, two ANBU ninja stepped closer towards Temari, and two stepped closer towards Kankuro. They all stopped, waiting for action. Gaara blinked, slowly and thoughtfully then closed his eyes and bowed his head.

"All right," he began to say. A smile touched each of his sibling's faces.

"Let's do it!" The older siblings shouted, jutting a fist into the air.

The crowd responded emphatically, pumping their fists high into the air as well. The wind picked up with their excitement, sending hot sand into the air in a twister. Throughout all this excitement, no one could see the smirk that touched Gaara's face. Oh wait…

It was a smile.


	3. Chances Equal Changes

Temari looked around to everyone and then raised her hands. The crowd began to settle down. Gaara stared at them blankly, and Kankuro had his arms crossed.

"Okay, and now here's the biggest decision maker," she said. She looked around for a bit. "Does anyone have any idea of what your Kazekage can do to relax?"

As she spoke, someone came from behind Gaara and Kankuro, going to the blonde's side. Gaara's tapped the inside of his right forearm and waited. Okay, some suggestions: that can't be too bad. He tried to reason that, because his people would be willing to help, they would lash out some useful ideas.

Oh the surprises he faced.

"Watch a documentary about rhinos!"

"Wash the elderly!"

"Try walking dogs around the city!"

"Go bird-watching!"

Other suggestions were incoherent amongst other dozens of voices, but Temari managed to tell the scribe what to write down that seemed boring enough to work. More and more suggestions seemed to be coming, but if it were up to Gaara, he would do none of these. Oh wait, he still had something of an opinion.

Or so he could only hope.

"Temari…"

The blond looked over her left shoulder. "Yeah?"

"I don't feel it's exactly appropriate to do any of these things. Some of them seem fine, but, as a whole…"

She took the notebook from the scribe. "Oh come on. All of these seem perfectly fine to just—" She read over the suggestions and realized that she was actually just now become aware of what had been said. "What the heck's a rhino?" She screamed, whipping around to face the crowd, waving the notebook high above her head.

The crowd visibly flinched at the spike and change in her tone. Gaara's expression was troubled, and he was starting to believe that this plan of his siblings was completely half-baked. Kankuro sighed and shook his head, walking forward.

"It's all right, everyone! Thank you for your suggestions! We're going to take them with us while we consider more. Now go – get out of this heat!" After saying that, he looked over the the ANBU that were nearest him and nodded. They disappeared.

Gaara turned his troubled look on Kankuro. "You're _not_ actually considering these, are you?"

"Of course not. Well, maybe."

The relaxation that almost touched Gaara's face was more or less eradicated, and the troubled expression on his face turned into one of being full-blown disturbed. Kankuro laughed and waved his hand dismissively. That wasn't putting his mind at ease any, and thankfully, his brother picked up on that. He placed a hand on Gaara's shoulder slowly and then laughed a bit.

"It'll turn out all right. Just trust us."

"You're losing your credibility with me very quickly with me, you know."

"Augh! Really? So fast – what did I do?"

"It's what you're _not_ doing," Gaara added dryly.

At that moment, one of the ANBU came back.

"Sir, everything's ready," he said to Kankuro, who sighed in relief. "They'll be waiting by the South Gate."

"You made sure that the blonde knows we're coming?"

"She'll be expecting it."

"Good." Kankuro looked over to Temari and then yelled, "Come on! Let's go! We've got the go-ahead!"

Temari looked over her shoulder and handed the book back to the scribe. "All right."

Temari and two ANBU ran forward. Kankuro chuckled and pat Gaara on his back gently. The Kazekage looked up to Kankuro, wondering if it was too late to change his mind about this whole thing, but whatever they had done, it was spreading. It would look cowardly on his part, wouldn't it? In any case, he decided to bite the bullet. He turned around and jettisoned forward, being followed by Kankuro and the ANBU that came back. Gaara stared straight ahead, past his sister and the ANBU. He wondered what they could have possibly have been up to know. Who was it that they got involved in this sort of thing anyway?

Gaara looked around him as the scenery changed a bit more. The sand was starting to thin out and was stretching into dry land which gave way to rich dirt and green grass. The group all jumped straight up into the air and proceeded forward on branches. Gaara's mind was reeling now.

_They…couldn't have…_

The group landed about five minutes later in front of the South gate. There was someone with a spiked up ponytail leaning against the entrance to the gate. A blond was crouched down, twirling his finger around a blade of grass, while a large dog stretched and yawned next to someone lying on his back. The blond looked up to the group of people that came down. The three ANBU nin all stood behind the three they escorted here. Gaara walked before Temari as the blond stood up and walked over to him.

_Oh no._

"Hey, you. Heard you were in town a little while ago." He smirked.

"So… you've got a little problem trying to sleep!" Kiba said from his position on the ground.

"Come on then, no point in wasting sunlight!" Naruto yelled, turning around.

Shikamaru sighed deeply and pushed away from the gate, walking into the city and being followed by Akamaru, Naruto and eventually Kiba. Gaara took one step forward and then turned around suddenly. Temari and Kankuro perked up. He didn't say anything. He didn't have to. Turning away from them, he followed the others into Konoha. Temari looked over to Kankuro, who just smiled and smirked.

"It seems like we got off easy."

"Yeah, for now."

"What if this doesn't work?"

Temari paused, thinking on that. She turned around and then began walking towards the forest.

"We're ninja. We can change our appearance and live new lives."

"Our chakra will run out and then we'll be found out, or dead from the lack of chakra."

"Until then, we're gonna live by new names!" She jumped straight up into a tree.

"Like what?" Kankuro yelled, standing underneath the branch where she was.

Temari looked down. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it! Okay?"

She then jumped forward and disappeared, running faster than the eye could see. Kankuro closed his eyes and shook his head.

"You just could have said you don't know." He opened his eyes and looked back to the gate. "Good luck, Gaara. Try to come out alive." He turned and, instead, started walking down the line of trees into the forest.

_Because those fools are going to wear you out…_


	4. And So It Begins

Gaara walked slowly behind Kiba, Akamaru and Naruto. The two men talked with great emotion about something he wasn't particularly interested in – some game or some new food, he didn't know. Shikamaru was behind them as well, but he was still a pace or two in front of the redhead. His hands were in his pockets as he followed behind listlessly. Gaara couldn't tell if he was specifically weary or if this was how he normally was. Something nagged at the back of his mind that this was something that was integrated with the man's DNA. Shikamaru looked behind him, twisting his body so he could see past his arms.

"Don't worry – these two idiots won't be part of the process." He turned back around, tilting his head back slightly. "They may just watch for a little while, then again, I'm not exactly sure what it is they'll do."

Gaara looked at the back of the other's head. He regarded his hairstyle and was very curious about it for some reason. Maybe it was lack of better thoughts, but he seemed briefly engaged in thinking about the mechanics of how this hairstyle worked.

_For someone who seems so half-hearted in presence, this seems like a bit of a feat…_ He shook his head, closing his eyes temporarily. _I just don't understand these people._

"Well, you're no 'connect the dots' either, buddy!" Naruto's voice shouted.

Gaara looked up, surprised. _What the—_

"What is that supposed to me? Just because I don't understand how you can't cook anything but ramen—" Kiba shouted back.

"It's easy, and it doesn't take a lot of time!"

"There are dozens of things that don't take a lot of time, you lazy dimwit! You can't live off ramen!"

"You wanna bet?" The two moved closer to each other, pressing their foreheads together and growling.

"Fine! When you die at 20, don't haunt me when I dance on your grave!"

"All right, Nutro Breath!" Naruto growled back. "But just because I don't have some quick fix dog food doesn't mean that I can't cook!"

"Oh you're on!"

"Enough!" Shikamaru threw his arms down and sighed loudly.

Both Kiba and Naruto looked over to him, their temples touching each other.

"Did you just yell at us?" they asked in unison.

"Yes, I did, because you two are troublesome idiots. Can you imagine how difficult you're making things?" Shikamaru raised a hand up and ran his fingers over his hair. "Making me yell like that. You two...really are bothering me today." He looked over to them, the palm of his hand resting against his temple. "Why don't you two go somewhere else? You're not going to be of any help here you know."

The two males blinked at Shikamaru before looking to the corners of their eyes and looking at each other. They sat up straight and then huffed. They seemed to be mirror images of each others with their huffy expressions and their hands on their hips.

"Well then, Naruto, it seems we're not wanted," Kiba said, eyes closed.

"Yeah!" Naruto agreed, his eyes closed as well. "Who wants to stick around for their boring old session anyway?"

"Psh. Not us!" Kiba added.

"That's for sure!"

Shikamaru just stared at the two with a dull expression and watched as they walked away. Gaara just stood in the background with his arms crossed. Once again, he pondered leaving and wondered just how that would reflect on his character. With a sigh, Shikamaru dropped his arm and bowed his head slightly. "Finally," he murmured. He looked over to Gaara and then placed his hands in his pockets. With a nod of his head, Shikamaru walked off to the left, walking between buildings towards a thicket of trees. Gaara watched him with his eyes before following after him. It was a quiet walk, which seemed like a drastic change from the walk he just had a few moments ago. He actually got to look around at the greenery and listen to the sounds of nature. It all seemed peaceful, and when he looked forward to see where they were going, he saw the trees open up to an open field. He squinted his eyes as the sunlight seemed to beam down on the two of them. Shikamaru turned slightly to the left again and walked towards a stream. He stopped and groaned as he squatted down next to a tree.

"This is it?" Gaara asked, standing a couple of feet away from him.

"Hmn?" Shikamaru looked over his shoulder before looking away again. "Yup. This is it. Nothing fancy about it." He flopped down onto his butt and then laid on his back underneath the tree. He laced his fingers under his head and closed his eyes. "Just relax."

_If I knew how to relax, I'd be in my own country doing just that, _Gaara quipped in his head.

He looked away from the lazy male on the ground and looked around at the surrounding area. He decided to walk around. It wouldn't hurt. He wasn't going to leave. He took a few steps backward, watching the pineapple head. When the other male didn't move, Gaara turned around and being walking around the enclosed field. There were birds chirping here and there, even though he couldn't see them. _This scenery is actually..._ His thoughts left him as he looked up towards the clouds and stood still, watching the white puffs slowly pass along the sky. He looked down and continued walking. He felt restless, just doing nothing. His body stayed covered by the khaki poncho, and even though he was used to heat, this was an uncomfortable sort of heat. He reached up and unclasped the poncho from the inside. He pulled it off his body. Just as he did, there was a wide that washed over his entire body. He had to admit that it felt good. He walked back over to where Shikamaru was lying, just so he could put the poncho down.

"There's no point in just walking around aimlessly, you know. It can be an all right thing to do for a while, but eventually, you're going to have to stop."

Gaara looked to the other male. He wasn't expecting him to talk. "I feel the need to move my legs."

"I think you're confusing the restlessness for something else. There's not much to explore here if you're not willing to go far."

"Who says I'm not willing?"

Shikamaru opened an eye and looked up to him. "Why'd it take you so long to step away before you started walking around before?"

Gaara stared at him, quiet and unable to throw back a good response. He figured the other had noticed him walking away, but he didn't actually think he paid much attention to him. The poncho rustled gently from the wind, and the two males stayed still, looking at each other. Gaara looked away, staring at a tree. "I can't say." That was the best that he could come up with. It seemed to be satisfactory enough because Shikamaru took his dull gaze from Gaara and closed the opened eye.

"Just lie down already. Your fidgeting is defeating the purpose of me even agreeing to do this in the first place."

And then there was silence again. What did he expect Gaara to do? Just lie down? That was it? This day had him asking quite a bit of questions to himself – more so than he ever recalled asking before. He decided to save himself the mental power and just did as the other male had said. He turned his back to Shikamaru and sat down. He looked up at the sky and then laid onto his back. His left arm lay at his side; his right hand was placed on his stomach. The poncho kept his head and upper body from laying on the ground completely. It felt weird to just be lying idly on the ground. He frowned deeply, even squirmed a little. When was the last time he was on the ground? He didn't count any of the times that he was in battle and was sent flying into the earth. Though he had to admit, he was a lot more comfortable during those times than he was right now.

With a yawn, Shikamaru moved his hands from underneath his head and laced his fingers together, stretching his arms above his head. His palms touched something that wasn't grass. He pulled his hands down and then rolled onto his side, pushing up onto one elbow. He looked at the redhead who was lying down on the ground and staring up at the sky. A huff of laughter escaped the lazy male and then he laid down on his back again, lacing his fingers underneath his head.

_It took you a while, Gaara..._ He started up at the sky that peeped from between the trees, _but I think that you might actually get the hang of this 'relaxing' thing._ He smirked and then closed his eyes.

At least this was going better than what was happening to the redhead's siblings back home...


End file.
